Step by Step #6: Roy S. Teague’s Parents, Part 1

After a long break to make ready for the FGS 2010 conference in Knoxville, and then to recover from the trip and catch up on other work, it’s time to resume our study of the ancestry of Roy S. Teague and Hattie (James) Teague Watkins. We’ll begin with Roy’s parents. To summarize what we know about Roy’s parents and siblings to date:

Roy was enumerated in the 1930 US census, Clayton, Rabun Co., GA, next to Lina S. Teague (a widow, born about 1875), and four of her children, namely Faye C. Teague, Lucy Teague, Louie Teague (who was divorced), and Reba Teague.1

Roy was buried in the same plot as Lina H. Teague, C. C. and Faye T. Barron, Paul C. Teague (Roy’s known son), and Louie and Fannie Q. Teague.2

Roy’s obituary does not name his parents, but it does give his brothers as Louie Teague of Clayton and Grady Teague of Pontiac, Michigan; his half-brothers as Ulyus Teague of Rabun Gap and Melvin Teague of Canton, North Carolina; and his sisters as Mrs. Faye Barron and Mrs. Lucy P. Ramey of Clayton, and Mrs. Felton Sullivan of Tallulah Falls.3

The Louie, Lucy, and Faye Teague enumerated next door to Roy in 1930 with their mother, Lina, were probably the same people mentioned in Roy’s obituary as his siblings. Since Roy’s obituary named these individuals as his full siblings (differentiating between them and his half-siblings), then his mother was probably Lina S. [–?–] Teague.

Who was Roy’s father and what happened to him? And how do the other siblings named in Roy’s obituary fit into this family? Before we go into that, let’s write a more formal summary of what we know to date. This will help us analyze new information as we find it.4

[Unknown] Teague (Roy’s presumptive father), was born [unknown], and apparently died between about 1916 (when daughter Lucy was born) and 1930 (when the US census was enumerated). He married before about 1898 to Lina S. [–?–] (1874 – 1965). They had the following children:

Louie Teague, born 5 Febuary 1897 in Georgia (likely Rabun County) and died 23 Feburary 1982. He married 1st to an unknown woman, and presumably 2nd to Fannie Q. [–?–] (1923 – 2009).

Roy S. Teague, born 8 May 1900 in Rabun Co., GA, and died 7 June 1969. He married 15 June 1924 in Rabun County to Hattie C. James, daughter of Warren “Clint” James and Jenettie Beck.

Faye C. Teague, born 1 April 1903 in Georgia (likely Rabun County) and died 17 December 1987. She married C. C. Barron.

Reba Teague, born about 1911 in Georgia (likely Rabun County). Possibly, this is the sister mentioned in Roy’s obituary who married Felton Sullivan, but possibly not.

Lucy P. Teague, born about 1916 in Georgia (likely Rabun County), and married [Unknown] Ramey.

Grady Teague, who was living in Pontiac, Michigan, upon Roy’s death in 1969.

Additionally, [Unknown] Teague had at least two other sons, Ulyus Teague and Melvin Teague, by an as yet unknown woman.

Now we’re ready to further investigate this family. Since Roy was born in 1900, he may or may not have been enumerated in that year’s federal census. He should, however, have been enumerated in both 1910 and 1920. Let’s work our way backwards through the censuses. A search in the 1920 US census of Rabun Co., GA, yielded the following:5

Roy was, indeed, enumerated with Lina Teague in 1920 as her son along with the four siblings we’ve already confirmed: Louie, Faye, Reba (enumerated as “Reby”), and Lucy. The family was living on Warwoman Road in the Clayton District near families surnamed Hamby, York, Kell, Justus, and Wall. This time, Lina was enumerated as being divorced. *Note: check divorce records for [Unknown] Teague and Lina [–?–].* She rented her home and was a farmer. Louie was also occupied as a farmer, while Roy worked in a shoe shop. Faye, Reba, and Lucy had no occupation, not unusual since Faye and Reba attended school that year, and Lucy was too young to be formally employed.

Because Lina claimed to be divorced, it’s possible her former husband was still living in 1920. *When we learn his name, we should check for a possible enumeration in the 1920 US census.* Since Lucy was born in 1916, it’s possible he was enumerated in the 1910 US census with Lina and their children. A search of that census yielded the following:6

Hmm. Ok, Lina is again the head of household, and she is again a widow, yet her surname, Teague, apparently didn’t change from at least her marriage sometime before 1898 to her death in 1965. Not to mention that even though she’s listed as a widow here, Lina had two additional children between 1910 and 1920, Reba and Lucy, apparently with the same man who fathered her other four children. *Because of this, it’s probable the unnamed father was still living in 1910, and so we should check for his enumeration in that census.*

The good news is that we found Roy’s brother Grady. The children’s ages seem to be off a bit, but not by much; it’s possible that someone other than Lina provided the information found in their entry, which would account for this discrepency. The family seems to have moved sometime between 1910 and 1920, although probably not far since the Warwoman district and the Clayton district adjoin each other, and since they were living on Warwoman Road in 1920. Lina also rented her home in 1910, and was still a farmer, an occupation she probably carried for much of her life, as many people in this area did.

Let’s go back ten years and see what information the 1900 US census might contain:7

At first glance, this seems to not be the correct family. True, the wife was born during the same month and year as Roy’s mother Lina, but this woman’s name was Sarah A. (on the other hand, Lina’s middle initial was given as “S” in several different records). Likewise, the middle son is Alvin G.; the “G” could stand for Grady, if this is the right family, but how do we know? The key here is the two other sons, Louie and Roy S., and especially Roy since the month and year of birth match “our” Roy. There are other clues as well. While the family is living in a district we had not found them in before, they were enumerated just two doors away from a near-neighbor of Lina’s in 1920, Andrew and Ara(h) [–?–] Hamby. This might be a coincidence, but it might not, and it is something we should keep in mind.

Before we firmly place this record with our notes for Roy’s family, we should verify the information against other records. *Since we do not have ready access to death certificates, then we should (at a minimum) check obituaries for the children whose dates of death we know, search for a marriage record for Lina and her husband (possibly the Stephen Teague from the 1900 US census), and search for the unknown father in 1910, 1920, and possibly 1930.*

4. Normally, when making a summary like this it’s a good idea to cite each piece of information so that you know exactly which document provides evidence for which detail. In this case, since I’ve provided citations for all of these items several times, once in the first three footnotes and then in other posts related to this case study, I chose not to cite everything again in order to keep the post to a reasonable length.